Knockdown flat offset gauge



Aug. 10, 1943. E. ERNST KNOCK DOWN FLAT OFFSET GAUGE Filed Sept. 11, 1942 ceeds.

Patented Aug. 10, 1943 UNHTED- STATES harem-c rics;

nNooKnovvN FLAT orrsrlT'G UGE i EugeneErnsQLivingStOn, I I I 7 Applieation September 11, 1545, Serial No. 457,993." g H 5 Claims; (ems-face) This invention relates to offset gauges, and has particular reference to gaugesof thesocalled fiat glass type.

It has been known to make such gauges of extremely heavy and rugged construction to withstand the maximum pressures of modern high pressure boilers without substantial warping due to heat. The preferredpractice was to use a single or common central chambered plate for both of the gage units in order to increase the strength and rigidity of;the construction; How'- ever, the resultant machining and handling involved' a source of considerable expense, especially as precision work was required for an accurate fit of the glass plates. -If the gage required repairer special cleaning it was generally necessary to completelydisassemble the entire gauge so that the operator was deprived of a water level reading for a considerable period oftime. r a g It is therefore an object of the invention to avoid these difiiculties and disadvantages by the provision of novel means whereby identical interchangeable gauge units are employed"in-'each I gauge.

Another object of the invention'is' to furnish I improved means to reduce the weight ofmetal required, the amount of machining necessary and the labor entailed especially in cleaning and repair'work. I

By reducing the massiveness offthe gauge, the

same may become subject to distortion stresses at the high temperatures of use, and'once the gauge is taken apart it maybe Very dificult or impossible to put it together againin a leak proof occurred. 7

A further object is theprovision of an improved knockdown, flat, ofisetwater level gaugewhich is highly efiicient under allxthe circumstances obtaining in power plants.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the specification :pro-

- .Referring in detail to the-drawing} .aI-water level gauge embodying the invention; i Theisamemaybe ofthe ofiset type,an'dhenc'e V 1 includes .a plurality of-water level gage'units H'- '1 In the drawingr j Figure 1 is a front elevation of a' gauge embodying the invention; this view beingpartially. "conventionaliz'ed by omission of'theclamping means for' thegauge'units. a Pig. '2 is'a similar view showing one of the i identical interchangeable gaugeunits removed. irom the device of Fig; 1. 5

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the same'rf Fig, 4 is a-sectional view on the'-line l%4 of Fig. '1.

1 The advantages of the invention as here out: lined are best realizedfwhenall of its featuresand instrumentalities are combinedinone and the same structure 'but; useful-devices maybe produced embodying less than the whole 5 It will be obvious to those skilled inthe artlto whichfthis invention 'ap'pert'ains, that the, same maybe incorporated in several differentfcon v .struction's. The acco-mpanyirig drawing, theree fore,is submitted merely as showing the preferred' ei'remplification-of the invention. 1

and 12, disposed in closely side by side, parallel relation'toeach oth'enwith the lower sight er; .tion of the up'p'e'rzgauge unit overlapping: the upper sight portio'noi the lower uniti' JI hese gauge units are sui'tably' interconnectedfor; a

parallel pathof flow to thus form thegaugelll j .which is adapted ".to be mounted on "the "Water I 7 column of a high pressure boiler infla' cbnvehtional manner. Preferably upper and lower cutout'valves vl3,ii l (which may also have automatic V ball check valves) are-"connected to the Water column, andare provided" withslever arms that may be interconnected 'bychains (not shown) so that they can be closed simultaneously if a leak developsin. the gauge;.'e'spe'cia11y ij the leak is insufficient. to "cause .the ball' -valves to --,close.

With the aforesaid objects in view,'theinvention consists in the novel combinations "and arrangements of parts hereinafter describedih their preferred embodiments, pointed out in-th'e subjoined claims, andiillustrated on the annexed same reference views.

'Mounted on the valves-13,1 1 are upper and lower heads it, l'lhavingl union fittings--l3"for-detachablerconnection with thei valves, -whereby the :gaug e-lilacanibe removed as "a complete uniti"" Each'of the heads i651?! has one or'more opem ings, each of the latter preferably beingathrough passage, and the heads may al'so have end-openings; Certainfof theflblienihgs'inthe head'l'fi are closedtby plugs 19.2% and 2l,'a.n 1cei-tam' of'the openings inthe head H are closedby plu'gsit, v 123... By'rernoval ofltheplugs l9, 2}] men; some cleaning" of the gauge may be efi'ected; and by removal 'ofthe' plugs 2! and 23, access for cream It denotes fittings.

Each gauge unit H, [2 has a nipple at one end and a pipe at the opposite end. If desired, the nipples may be permanently screwed into the gauge units. gauge unit is detachable. Thus the pipes men tioned may each be split into long nipples or pipe sections 26, 21, these being interconnected by detachable fittings of the boltedfiange or union pe. Preferably, I ploy the conventionai union fittings 28 comprising opposed seating POI-7.

tions 29, 30 screwed on the pipe sections and interconnected by a threaded collar- 31. These unions may also have ball joint seats as indicated at 32 fora purpose hereinaiterdescribcd. A union fitting has the advantage of being rather compact and small, to permit the gauge units to lie closely side by side, with the various conned t me n a ment th the cause; t a so. possesses the advantage of permitting a ball joint seat to' b e used.

7 aeh eau e u t may b of he s ed. flat 1 glass type which is especially adapted to with- .stand the extreme temperatures and pressures e eeupt e in hi h essure boi e s- Each may have a central plate 3.3 having a central channelor slot-like chamber 34, closed at one or both sides by plane glass strips 35, whose inner faces maybe protected. bymice 35 from erosion by cgndensate.

V C amping plates 31' overlie the glassjplates and areprovidedwith beveled slot ht, op ni s 33 which are in. alignment with cas .ot er for the passa e of light tothusincrease visibility of- .the water. level. Powerful bcltetaie am to ether he parts t avoid leaka e atthe cla sm tes. To avoid warping ofthe.

metal pla es and consequent leaka e, or break e of the glass p ates-the plates 33 and 3-1 are made of special steel vamiare very heavy. :Be-

cause the bolts 39 must be. rather closely spaced nethwisciof t e auge, t e .massiveness of the truc re s fur her increased. Even "so, breakage of the glas p ates is rather common, and in the e d avorto reduce such breakage, the Lofiset t peof au e is. used, because-the length of the glass plates is thus substantiallyireduced.

The union fittings facilitate repair, replacementand cleaning of the gauge units. Aglass plate may break, or the mica may become broken and displaced, ,or dirt and chemical action may prevent satisfactory operation of the gauge or obscure-the glass. Thus it may he insuflicient to merelvblow rdcwn the gauge. With this invention. a gauge unit as, shownin'Fig. 2 may be easily. and quickly removed, and replaced .by another, so that the operator need not wait a long time until he can againobserve the water At least one connection for each thear r e el nt r a d, ere amp level. The repair'orcleaning may then be done at leisure or the aIi eLunitmay be shipped to the facto y...

For manufacturing reasons the eaugeunits'l z, 3. ar i entical and interchangeable, thus add.- nr; furth r advan a e to the use oi theiunion n some cases. it is des rab e towel e'h nple 25 n he pipe se tiec lfi tc supplement the th a .I-uthat events cause unit uncuremoval may appear as shown in Fig. 2, and both units may have the union parts and fittings correspondingly arranged so as to be identical with each other for replacement. It is to be noted that the connections 25 and 26 are made to the central plate 33 of the gauge units for a balanced support and aligned flow passage.

The seats in the union fittings may be plane, but are preferably of the ball joint type in order to allow for any warping that may occur in the gauge units or in the nipple, pipe connections or heads l5, l1. Thus the union fittings can be made tight without any leakage. Preferably, when the gauge I0 is removed by opening the ;-unions l8. and one of the gauge units ll, [2 is replaced, the unions 28 are opened and may be only slightly tightened by the rings 28. Then the gauge M is again mounted and the unions I8 tightened fully, after which the unions 28 are giverrthe final tightening. Any lack of alignment'will-t-hus have no effect. It will be further.

Itmaybe noted that the has. it, :1 permit eith r ga ge u i e b ow d wn. "alon to'concentrate the entire flow therein. Thus an element may be removed, such as a plug 25 01722 'for the gauge unit H, or theplug, 13 or valve 24 for the gauge unit i2, and the adjacent passage plug-gedforthe blow down, then opened, and

o b w o n. n tlo e. v l e ,4 main closed, plug 22 is removed for the blow dawn, a d t e lu fi' s o ed a d a re ov b ba l e el ment is d opp d in to clo e th pi a st th rein w h u os the h it. he the lus i9. is repl e After the blow down, the plug I9 is removed, the ball like elementgwithdrawn. th the plu s 3 andv 22 are again ,in-

sertjed. During this blow down'the valve Htmay be closed while the valve I3 may be open. For his pu pose t e p u s I9 and 20may be re ardedas valves adapted to rotatably open and close the vertical passa es to the respective gauge units.

Theuse oi the heads i6, 11 withtheir threaded onnections, as well as suchthreaded c nnections for thegaugeunits makes the employment of the ball seatunions 28 highly desirable, because it is extremelydifiicult in ordinary production to ob-.

. plates, said units being'connected in parallel side by side, "offset relationitoeach other, and mounting-means forthe gaugeunits so interconnecting the central plates includingportions in alignment with said channels, andfball. joint union-fittings in: the-mounting means whereby the'gauge units can be separated and reconnected irrespective of the occurrence of warping in the-gauge.

32. A liquid level gauge for high-pressure boilers includinga pluralityctwater level gauge units of rlike, ;iinterchangeable construction disposed side by side but at diiierent elevations so as to overlap each other, a head above the top of the upper unit and a like head below theibottom of the lower unit, said heads being adapted for connection to the valves of the water column of a boiler, nipples connecting the heads to the top of the upper unit and to the bottom of the lower unit respectively, pipes threadedlyconnecting the heads with the top of the lower unit and withthe bottom of the upper unit respectively, and a union fitting in each pipe, whereby thegauge units can be separated, each union'fitting having a ball-joint seat to allow for warping due to heat.

3. A liquid level gauge for high pressure boilers, including a plurality of water level gauge units of like interchangeable construction disposed side by, side but at difierent elevations so as to overlap each other, each gauge unit being straight throughout its length, heads at the respective upper and lower ends of the upper and lower gauge units, threaded connections separate of the heads and of the gauge units interconnecting each head with both gauge units whereby passages are afiorded for intercommunicating the gauge units in a circulatory manner, and union fittings in certain of the connections, one union circulatory relation ofthe gauge units, said means being detachable fromthe gauge units, and said means including a head at thetop portion of the upper gauge unitand a headat thebottom portion of the lower gauge unit, connections between the upper head and the top portions of both gauge units and connections betweenthe lower head and the lower portions of both gauge units, said connections having threaded engagement with the head andwith the gauge units, and one connection for eachQhead having a three-piece union fitting comprising a threaded collar. 7

5. A liquid level gauge for high pressure boil-- ers, including a plurality of, water level gauge units of like interchangeable construction disposed side by side but at different elevations so as to overlap each other, each gauge unit being straight throughout its length, a first means interconnecting the top portions of the gauge units, a second meansinterconnecting the bottom por- V tions of the gauge units, the said first and second means being separable from the gauge units and being independent thereof except that-they serve to interconnect the gauge units in operative'circulatory relation to each other, said first and second means lying substantially entirely outside of the gauge units and, the latter being separate of each other except for the said means, each of the first and second. means consisting of several elements threadedly interconnected with each other and with the gauge units; at least one of the elements of the first and secondlmeans being a union fitting having a threaded necting collar.

l V EUGENE ERNST.

means interconnecting the top portions ofl the gauge units and the bottomportions thereof for a intercon- 

